Scavenging head assembly for rotary drilling apparatus



Nov. 3, 1964 A. SCHLIECKMANN SCAVENGING HEAD ASSEMBLY FOR ROTARYDRILLING APPARATUS Filed June 7. 1960 FIG.I

kLI

FIG. la

W ZZ United States Patent s teases scAvENerNo rman ASSEMBLY son noranvDRILLHNG APPARATUS Albrecht Sehlieeirmann, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignorto Gutehofilnungshutte Sterkrade Aktiengesellschaft, Gherhausen,Rhincland, Gemany Filed lane 7, 1960, Ser. No. 34,431 Claims priority,application Germany .l'une 10, E559 4 Claims. (Cl. 235-111) orscavenging is effected via a hose or a flexible and articulated pipe.The flushing hose is threaded on the outer nipple of an elbow orgooseneck, which directs the cleansing or flushing fluid to'the centerof the flushing head and which leads into the spindle via a sword pipe.l

The hose, gooseneck and sword pipe are rigidly connected with thecleaning or flushing head housing in such manner that the sword pipeprojects centrally into the spindle to serve as the rotary axis for thecleaning or flushing head. The spindle is provided, in its upperportion, with an interchangeable gland packing and the like, whichslidingly abuts on the smooth outer surface of the sword pipe, to sealagainst the pressure of the passing cleaning or flushing fiuid.

At the high pressure of the sand-containing, possibly corrosive cleaningor flushing fluid, the sword pipe and the packing are subjected toconsiderable wear.

Though special precautions are taken to impart a long life to theseparts, it is necessary to replace them from time to time during shortstandstill periods of the drilling apparatus. In this work access to thecleaning or flushing head from the work platform, particularly when itis sus pended in the tool hook, andalso when it is laterally offset inthe Kelly hole, is diificult and the cleaning head can be reached .bythe crew only from an elevator or by means of a ladder.

Operating with tools and loose parts high abovethe platform floor isparticularly dangerous, especially if work operations have to beperformed simultaneously on the platform floor. The operations on thefiushing head should therefore, and in order to save costs duringstandstill operations of the plant, be carried out very rapidly.

In prior art flushing or cleaning heads little attention was paid toconsiderations of the requirements for a safe construction which wouldalso permit rapid replacement ofworn out parts. In order to be able todisassemble the sword pipe and the packing, a'heavy flushing hose had tobe first emptied and then removed, after which the gooseneck could beunthreaded to permit the removal ofthe sword pipe. The packing then hadto be removed laterally, piece hy piece, through the window of thelantern or cage.

The goosenecks were frequently provided with a stopper or cover, whichwas disposed vertically overthe spindle bore. This stopper was at firstused only to introduce a measuring tool, on a rope, from the top endinto the hollow drill rods. In this manner the time for assembly anddisassembly of the rod assembly wassaved when.

carrying out measurements in the drill hole.

An .improvedprior art cleaning or flushing head con- 3,155,4d3 PatentedNov. 3, i964 struction was created by making the diameter in theabovementioned stopper so large that the sword pipe could be removedthrough the opening left by the disassembled stopper. Consequently, theflushing hose could remain suspended'on the gooseneck and thisconsiderably facilitated the disassembly operations. was held againstthe high flushing pressure with many small screws, and the packing hadto be removed through the lantern or cage in many single parts, ifnecessary, with several'special tools.

Another prior art construction is very similar, particularly with regardto the handling of many connecting elements and single parts, whereinthe upper part of a tube elbow. having a bend of about degrees, isflanged on the lantern. Since two pipe connections have to be packed inthis embodiment, an even greater number of screws is required for theflanged joint for high pressures. Compared with the gooseneck providedwith'a stopper, there are no operative advantages in thisconstruction.

Pursuant to an improved prior art construction, the gooseneck can remainassembled with the flush housing when thepacking box is mounted, sincethe sword pipe and the packing box can be laterally removed through thelantern or cage.

However, this construction has the disadvantage that the overall lengthof the flushing head increases, due to the higher lantern, and thepacking train mustbe pulledby means of two threads or flanges, upwardlyand downwardly into the lantern and packed. The replaceable packingtrain is correspondingly complicated, and its assembly requires greatcare and the use of special tools.

It is an. object of the present invention to provide means resulting ina construction which permits the replacement of the entire packing trainwith simple and safe means, without the necessity for complete removalor temporary storage of the connecting elements, andwithout thenecessity of using special tools, so that the operations can beperformed in a very short time with a maximum of safety for the entirecrew.

Itis another object of the present invention to provide meansfacilitating the introduction of measuring or other specialinstrumentsfrom the top into the hollow rod assembly, with the cleaningor flushing hose mounted.

in attaining the foregoing objects of the present invention, the elbowused to supply the flushing or cleaning fluid from the hose to thehollow drill rods is connected with a preferably detachable part of theflushing head housing bymeans of a bayonet-type lock and can belaterallyswung out of the lock about a bearing arranged in the region of the hoseconnection coaxially to the drill rods and to the flushing head housing.

These and other objects of the invention will become furtherapparentfrom the detailed description, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing showing preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing which illustrates the best mode presently contemplatedfor carrying out the inventionzj FIG. 1 shows a vertical sectionthrougha cleaning, flushing or scavenging head with all its associated parts;

FIG. 1a shows a detail section thereof drawn on an enlarged scale;

FIGJII) is an enlarged sectional view showing the manner of assemblingthe sword pipe and casing; and,

' FIG. 2 is a top plan View of the flushing head with the elbow swungout. I

Referring moreparticularly to the drawing, there is disclosed a flushingor cleaning head housing 1, which is a suspended on the hook of anextension device by means ofa stirrup (not shown, as it extendstransverse .to the sembly 3.

However, the stopper.

The housing 1 is covered at the top by a detachable hood 4 securedthereon, which has an undercut opening at the interior of projection 5a,serving as a bayonet or quick-disconnect lock 5 for one end 6:: of anelbow 6, generally called gooseneck, which carries laterally thereof avertical bearing '7 seated in a bracket portion 4a of hood 4 and forminga swivel axis at the other end of the elbow with which the flushing hose(not shown) is engageable for connection therewith.

A sword pipe 8 serves as a connecting element or link between the elbow6 and the drill rod 3. In its operating position shown in FIG. 1 theupper end 8a of pipe 8 projects slightly into the elbow 6 and is sealedor packed against it by an annular rubber ring or gasket 9. The elbow isthus secured or locked against accidental swinging. At its lower end812, the sword pipe is surrounded by a sealing or packing assembly 25comprised of lip rings 10 made of rubber and seated in associatedprofile rings 11 made of bronze. The rings are held together underpressure, by means of a clamping nut 12 threaded into a collar orshoulder 13 provided on the drill spindle 3. The rings serve as apacking or seal against the flushing fluid pumped into bore 3a of thedrill spindle.

Below the packing assembly 25 provision is made for a spring ring 14which is seated in about half of an annular groove 15 (FIG. 1a) definedin the lower portion 8b of the sword pipe 8. A corresponding annulargroove, designated as 16, provided on the underside of the lowermostprofile ring ll. serves as an abutment or seat for a portion of spring14 which projects from groove 15. Between the upper seal or packing 9against the elbow 6 and the lower seal or packing against the collar orshoulder 13, the sword pipe 8 is encompassed by a threaded sleeve 17provided with a coarse knurled thread.

The pipe 8 is firmly braced against sleeve 17 by a conventional splittension ring 18, 18. The ring 18, 18' as shown at FIG. lb, is comprisedof two concentrically interengaged ring parts 18 and 18' each having awedge-shaped profile. The sleeve 17 is internally threaded and theflange 19 is screwed into the sleeve, thereby gripping the outer ring 18at the bottom surface thereof a shown. Due to the axial force of theflange 19, the outer ring part 18 is forced radially outwardly and theinner ring part 18' is forced radially inwardly. Accordingly, the sleeve17 is firmly secured on the pipe 8 and will rotate therewith. The threadof sleeve 17 is engaged by a drive nut 20, which is disposed in alantern or cage shaped recess 21 of the housing hood 4, so that drivenut 20 can not be displaced axially.

It will be noted that at its end 6a, the elbow 6 is provided withlateral projections 5 which engage in a bayonet lock 5.

The bayonet type lock 5 is so formed that the resultant force componentwhich is directed by the flushing pressure, upwardly toward the swordpipe 8, is absorbed by the abutment defined by an inner projection 5aoverlying the outer projections 6' of elbow 6 on the sickle-shapedsurface (see FIG. 2) of the bayonet lock, which is, without thecustomary screw joint. The elbow is secured, during drilling, againstaccidental rotation or turning outwardly from the bayonet lock, in thatthe sword pipe is pushed or forced in the operating position upwardlyinto the centering bore 65 in the projections 6' of the elbow. At thesame time the round rubber ring 9 disposed in this centering bore formsa seal or packing against maximum flushing pressures.

An important advantage of this construction is that the sword pipe 8, asthe main part subject to wear, is a simple tubular section with acompletely smooth surface, which can be ground, hardened, chrome-platedand lapped at little cost, to provide a long life. With a verysymmetrical design, the pipe can even be reversed and further used.

The assembly and disassembly of the sword pipe 8 can be effected asfollows by means of a universal tool:

By turning the drive nut 26 counter clockwise, the pipe 8 is moveddownwardly so that its upper end So moves out from the centering bore 6bof the elbow 6.

The latter is then swung laterally outwardly from the bayonet lock 5 tothe position shown in FIG. 2, the suspended flexible hose or the hingecoupling of the special pipe line permitting the slight rotation, untilthe full open ing above the sword pipe is exposed, as shown in FIG. 2.The sword pipe is then raised sufficiently by turning the drive nutclockwise, until the coarse thread of the sleeve 17 is exposed above thenut and the sleeve and the pipe 3 can then be gripped by hand andremoved. After this is done, it is necessary only to insert areplacement sword pipe, which has been provided with a clamping device,in reverse order by means of the drive nut.

The clamping device itself is not subject to any considerable wear; itcan always be used with a new or reversed old sword pipe. However, themounting of the clamping device on the sword pipe should never beeffected in a derrick, because of the danger that some parts might bedropped.

The ring packing 25 can be removed from the top by itself or togetherwith the sword pipe, by means of a hook arranged on the handle of thedriving tool.

For this purpose, the sword pipe is provided at the lower end, on itsouter surface with the semicircular groove 15, so that the round steelspring ring 14, inserted in this groove, engages during the ascendingmotion of the sword pipe the annular groove 16 on the underside of thebottom lip ring seat or cage 11 serving as an abutment or with thebottom profile ring ill. in the case of a roof collar packing.

In this way a worn-out packing can be replaced by a completely mountedspare packing comprising sword pipe, clamping device and packingassembly, without loosening, transporting or putting aside smallconnecting elements or individual spare parts during the assembly. Thecomplete packing assembly 25 can be kept ready in a hermetically sealedpackage (soldered into a can or welded into a plastic bag) provided withpreserving and lubricating agents.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that thesemodifications and changes be embraced by the annexed clairns.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A rotary drilling apparatus comprising a hollow elbow member havingan internal bore for supplying fluid and having an end with projectionsextending outwardly in opposite directions, a cleaning head housinghaving an upper portion with a lock opened at one end to receive saidelbow projections, said lock having an internal groove defined thereinin which said projections are engageable for joining said elbow to saidhead, a hollow sword pipe having a bore adapted to align with theinternal bore of said elbow, said elbow having a widened diameterportion cut thereinto from the end adjacent said sword pipe to receivesaid sword pipe, a resilient ring member disposed in said wideneddiameter portion and frictionally engageable with said sword pipe whenit is inserted therein, a rotary drill rod assembly carried by saidhousing and surrounding the lower end of said sword pipe including amember having an internal bore of greater diameter than the exterior ofsaid sword pipe and permitting telescoping of said sword pipe downwardlytherein to permit the upper end to clear said elbow, a groove definedaround the lower end of said sword'pipe, a spring member disposed insaid groove, packing disposed around said sword pipe and supported onsaid ring member, and a clamping nut engageable with said drill rodassembly and movable to compress said packing against said sword pipeand the interior of said drill rod assembly member, means defining agroove around said sword pipe in said housing opened at one end, a drivenut of lesser dimension than said groove supported thereon, said drivenut extending around said sword pipe, a sleeve afixed to said sword pipeand frictionally coupled with said drive nut, said drive nut beingrotatable to displace said sword pipe axially, said elbow being movableto move said projections out of said lock and to permit upward movementof said sword pipe with said packing out of said housing upon upwardrotation of said drive nut to free said sleeve.

2. A rotary drilling apparatus comprising a hollow elbow member havingan internal bore for supplying fluid and having an end with at least oneprojection extending outwardly therefrom, a cleaning head housing havinga lock portion opened at one end to receive said elbow with theprojection thereon, said lock having an internal groove defined thereinin whieh the projection of said elbow is engageable for joining saidelbow to said cleaning housing, a hollow sword pipe frictionally carriedby said head and having a bore adapted to align with the internal boreof said elbow and extending downwardly from said elbow and said lockportion into said housing, a nut rotatably carried on said housing andbeing constrained against axial displacement, said nut being threadablyconnected to said sword pipe andbeing rotatable to displace said swordpipe axially into and out of engagement with said elbow, a rotary drillrod assembly carried by said housing and adapted to surround the lowerportion of said sword pipe and including a member having a bore of asize to permit telescopic movement of said sword pipe into and out ofsaid member, packing disposed around said sword pipe, means forcompressing said packing to cause it to move into engagement with theinterior of said member and for releasing said packing to permitdisplacement thereof 5 with said sword pipe, said sword pipe beingmovable by rotation of said nut to permit the upper end to clear saidelbow, said elbow being movable to bring the projection thereof out ofengagement with the groove of said lock after said sword pipe is moveddownwardly to clear the elbow and to permit removal of said sword pipeafter said elbow is removed from said lock.

3. A rotary drilling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said memberof said drill rod assembly includes an interior portion defining aledge, said packing being disposed around said sword pipe and resting onsaid ledge, said means to compress said packing comprising a clampingnut threadable into said drill rod assembly to compress the packing intoengagement with said member.

4. A rotary drilling apparatus according to claim 3, including a groovedefined on the lower end of said sword pipe, and a retaining springdisposed in said groove and projecting outwardly from said sword pipe tosupport said packing thereon.

Reier'enees Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,948,028 Edwards Feb. 20, 1934 2,472,061 Bloss June 7, 1949 2,764,428Murphy Sept. 25, 1956 2,867,453 Watts Jan. 6, 1959 2,981,557 Donnell etal Apr. 25, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 163,317 Austria June 25, 1949 16,086Great Britain L July 20, 1904 534,908 Great Britain Mar. 21, 1941694,230 Great Britain July 15, 1953

1. A ROTARY DRILLING APPARATUS COMPRISING A HOLLOW ELBOW MEMBER HAVINGAN INTERNAL BORE FOR SUPPLYING FLUID AND HAVING AN END WITH PROJECTIONSEXTENDING OUTWARDLY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, A CLEANING HEAD HOUSINGHAVING AN UPPER PORTION WITH A LOCK OPENED AT ONE END TO RECEIVE SAIDELBOW PROJECTIONS, SAID LOCK HAVING AN INTERNAL GROOVE DEFINED THEREININ WHICH SAID PROJECTIONS ARE ENGAGEABLE FOR JOINING SAID ELBOW TO SAIDHEAD, A HOLLOW SWORD PIPE HAVING A BORE ADAPTED TO ALIGN WITH THEINTERNAL BORE OF SAID ELBOW, SAID ELBOW HAVING A WIDENED DIAMETERPORTION CUT THEREINTO FROM THE END ADJACENT SAID SWORD PIPE TO RECEIVESAID SWORD PIPE, A RESILIENT RING MEMBER DISPOSED IN SAID WIDENEDDIAMETER PORTION AND FRICTIONALLY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID SWORD PIPE WHENIT IS INSERTED THEREIN, A ROTARY DRILL ROD ASSEMBLY CARRIED BY SAIDHOUSING AND SURROUNDING THE LOWER END OF SAID SWORD PIPE INCLUDING AMEMBER HAVING AN INTERNAL BORE OF GREATER DIAMETER THAN THE EXTERIOR OFSAID SWORD PIPE AND PERMITTING TELESCOPING OF SAID SWORD PIPE DOWNWARDLYTHEREIN TO PERMIT THE UPPER END TO CLEAR SAID ELBOW, A GROOVE DEFINEDAROUND THE LOWER END OF SAID SWORD PIPE, A SPRING MEMBER DISPOSED INSAID GROOVE, PACKING DISPOSED AROUND SAID SWORD PIPE AND SUPPORTED ONSAID RING MEMBER, AND CLAMPING NUT ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID DRILL RODASSEMBLY AND MOVABLE TO COMPRESS SAID PACKING AGAINST SAID SWORD PIPEAND THE INTERIOR OF SAID DRILL ROD ASSEMBLY MEMBER, MEANS DEFINING AGROOVE AROUND SAID SWORD PIPE IN SAID HOUSING OPENED AT ONE END, A DRIVENUT OF LESSER DIMENSION THAN SAID GROOVE SUPPORTED THEREON, SAID DRIVENUT EXTENDING AROUND SAID SWORD PIPE, A SLEEVE AFFIXED TO SAID SWORDPIPE AND FRICTIONALLY COUPLED WITH SAID DRIVE NUT, SAID DRIVE NUT BEINGROTATABLE TO DISPLACE SAID SWORD PIPE AXIALLY, SAID ELBOW BEING MOVABLETO MOVE SAID PROJECTIONS OUT OF SAID LOCK AND TO PERMIT UPWARD MOVEMENTOF SAID SWORD PIPE WITH SAID PACKING OUT OF SAID HOUSING UPON UPWARDROTATION OF SAID DRIVE NUT TO FREE SAID SLEEVE.